M.P.P. Piccini Taking Immediate Action to End Hallway Health Care

Province securing more than 1,100 hospital beds and creating 6,000 new long-term care beds to ease hospital gridlock in communities that need it most

COBOURG, ON — Ontario’s Government for the People is delivering on its promise to end hallway health care by taking urgent action to expand access to long-term care, reduce the strain on the health care system in advance of the upcoming flu season and work with front line health care professionals and other experts to transform the province’s health care system.

As an immediate measure, Premier Ford and Christine Elliott, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, recently announced creating more than 1,100 beds and spaces in hospitals and community settings across the province in advance of the upcoming flu season. As part of this announcement, Northumberland Hills Hospital has been provided with $242,000 in funding for four hospital beds and spaces to help reduce the strain on the health care system during this year’s flu season.

“One patient treated in a hallway is one patient too many,” said David Piccini, M.P.P. for Northumberland – Peterborough South, at an announcement this morning at Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH). “This move will reduce the strain on the health care system in advance of the upcoming flu season and work with front line health care professionals and other experts to transform the province’s health care system.”

“On behalf of the staff and physicians who provide care on a daily basis at NHH, our management team and the Board of Directors we sincerely thank you and our government for this wonderful news,” said Linda Davis, NHH President and CEO.

“This funding will provide very welcome support to NHH and help us recover the costs of beds that we have had to open to meet local patient need. Although this funding is temporary—to cover surge related to the flu season—challenges related to patient flow at NHH are not just a winter phenomenon. Here in Northumberland surge has become a reality 12 months of the year. Today’s announcement is very welcome news to support local care in the short term. System-wide solutions are required to fix this challenge in the long-term, and we applaud the government’s commitment to these long-term solutions. We look forward to working together, alongside our community partners.”

Premier Doug Ford and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, also recently announced that Ontario is moving forward with building 6,000 new long-term care beds across Ontario, representing the first wave of more than 15,000 new long-term care beds that the government has committed to build over the next 5 years.

“We have taken early action on our Long-Term Care commitment – an exciting announcement less than 100 days into our mandate,” said Ford. “We told the people of Ontario we’d make our hospitals run better and more efficiently, and we’d get them the care they deserve. We’re keeping that promise.”

“Hallway health care is a multi-faceted problem that will require real and innovative solutions,” said Minister Elliott. “Our government will continue to listen to the people who work on the front lines of our health care system as we develop a long-term, transformational strategy to address hallway health care.”

Quick Facts

Ontario is investing an additional $90 million in 2018-19 to build 1,100 beds and spaces in hospitals and the community, including more than 640 new beds and spaces to prepare for the flu season.

Ontario is investing more than $300 million to support the addition of 6,000 new long-term care beds — the first wave of more than 15,000 new long-term care beds over the next five years.

The funding announced today by the Provincial Government will bring Northumberland Hills Hospital’s total funded bed count for the remainder of the year from 108 to 112.